The Heat of the Moon: A Rachel Goddard Mystery (Rachel Goddard Mysteries) by Sandra Parshall Page A

guarantee of accuracy.”
    Her voice was soothing and reasonable, a therapist’s voice, and I could imagine her speaking to a patient in that tone. I shifted slightly away from her.
    “Maybe if we talk about him and I see some other pictures, I might get back a few memories, at least. You must have more pictures. That one can’t be the only one ever taken.”
    I saw the resistance in her eyes, the tension in her jaw, and wanted to back down. But hadn’t she invited this? Hadn’t she just said I suppose we’ll have to talk about it?
    Twisting toward me, she grasped both my hands in her warm, strong fingers. “Rachel, I wish you’d just let it be. Please. Believe me when I tell you it’s for the best.”
    I tried to wriggle my fingers free of hers but she wouldn’t let go. “How could forgetting my father be a good thing?”
    For a long moment she sat motionless, then she withdrew her hands from mine. Her gaze had turned inward, she was in the grip of some thought or emotion that washed ripples of pain over her features.
    “I could never be sure how much damage was done,” she said at last, quiet and slow. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe you are ready to remember. But, oh, Rachel, I wish you didn’t have to.”
    Her solemn face, her brimming eyes, the deep weary sadness in her voice suggested something terrible, and I couldn’t imagine what it was. I opened my mouth, wanting to stop her from saying what I’d begged to hear. But I didn’t speak, because equally strong was the need to know what she would tell me.
    “When your father died in that horrifying accident—” Her voice broke on a husky note. She cleared her throat, then met my eyes. Still, she hesitated.
    I ran my tongue over dry lips. “Mother, what?”
    “You were devastated by it.”
    “But—” I faltered. “It’s normal for a child to grieve over a parent’s death.” Somewhere far back in my mind a memory stirred, little more than a feeling, a welling sorrow. “I told you I remember crying about it. Vaguely.”
    She shook her head. “I’m not talking about ordinary grief. There was nothing ordinary about it.” Her dark eyes peered into mine, so intently that I drew back. “You really don’t remember what you did?”
    I managed barely a whisper. “What I did?”
    She raised her chin and went on. “It’s not an exaggeration to say you were traumatized by the loss of your father. It almost destroyed you. I’ll be honest, I was afraid you’d never recover. More than once I thought I’d be forced to hospitalize you, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”
    I sat in stunned silence. My mind went blank, my memory offered nothing.
    She squeezed her eyes shut for a second. Tears seeped through her dark lashes and ran down her cheeks. “The suddenness of it, and not being allowed to see his body, not being able to really say goodbye to him. He was so mangled—” She raised a trembling hand to her mouth. “I couldn’t imagine letting you see him. I thought I was doing the right thing at the time.”
    She turned to me, imploring. “You have to understand, I was torn apart myself, I wasn’t capable of making decisions. Now I think I might have been wrong. Maybe if you’d seen him—” She paused, took a deep shuddering breath. “It’s so hard to judge what to do when a child’s emotions are involved. Everything has lifelong consequences.”
    She hugged the photo tight against her, but when I grasped one edge of the frame she allowed me to take it. With a fingertip I traced the lines of my father’s face, his shoulders, the arms that held Michelle. My father, my dead father. Mangled. Why couldn’t I feel anything for him beyond a vague sense of loss?
    Mother gently removed the picture from my hands and laid it beside her on the couch, out of my reach. “You were so angry at your father for leaving you. Anger’s a normal part of grieving, but with you it was extreme. You’d fly into rages and destroy things that belonged